


Bounty

by ZellieAlmasy



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bounty Hunters, M/M, Original Character(s), Post-Apocalypse, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 08:10:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12883668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZellieAlmasy/pseuds/ZellieAlmasy
Summary: Lorne, a solo bounty hunter, happens upon a man who is worth a fortune - only if brought in alive.  Though, perhaps Lorne's heart isn't quite as hardened as he believes.





	Bounty

**Author's Note:**

> Look. Okay. LOOK. I know there's a lot of other things I need to write and even started an entire separate story in this universe ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/6122187/chapters/14031873 ). And my OC's stories are all over the fuck place. Okay, I know. I KNOW, I AM SORRY. But Izzy and I were talking what superpowers our OCs would have and she said hers was ---- [spoiler redacted]. OKAY IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS TO GUESS but anyway. I was like, holy shit he'd be so freaking valuable in this AU idea I had. And this happened.
> 
> I considered making this an actual chapter in "Blaze of Glory" but honestly this is a whole tangential plotline so woop. Same universe and maybe Blaze of Glory comes after. Well.... the part that's not the backstory which is all I have right now and I'm rambling i'll just shut up, yes you go read now

Business had not been great. It had been nearly two weeks, and Lorne had still been unable to track his latest bounty. When he took the job, he expected an actual lizard-man would stand out much more easily than this, yet here he was, two weeks later with nothing to show for it.

His payout from his last bounty had nearly run dry. Desperate to make some progress, Lorne extended his search further out into the wasteland. His best chance, he figured, would be to investigate any waystations in the area. The locals encountered dozens of travelers every day, and the caravans, themselves, were likely to bring news from distant parts of the land as well. 

Though these waypoints were an excellent source of information, Lorne hated travelling this far from civilization. Anyone this far away from a city was either in a gang, or a country hick, and both were ill-mannered and with terrible hygiene. Not to mention, everything was dry and dusty. The heat never bothered Lorne, but it all just added up to one dull, unpleasant environment. 

One man, however, caught Lorne's eye as he walked through the marketplace. This man was a vendor, selling his wares at a booth like the other locals, hoping to earn a profit from travelers who needed supplies. But unlike the other locals, this man had all his teeth. He actually was quite good-looking overall. The man was young and well-built. He had fiery red hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, and freckles dotted his pale skin. It was a wonder he managed to keep from burning out in this climate. Lorne was quite certain they had never met, something about him seemed so familiar to the bounty hunter. He couldn't help but stare. 

As the two men awkwardly caught each other's gaze, Lorne decided to approach his booth and play off his staring as though he were shopping. Perhaps speaking to the man would boost his memory. 

“Won't find produce this fresh for miles,” the redhead greeted with a smile. He spoke with a slight accent, perhaps Irish, Lorne would guess. 

“You're a farmer?” Lorne scrunched up his nose and glanced out at the very dusty, very brown land surrounding them. “Here?” 

“Just a ways out of town,” the merchant replied evasively. 

Lorne didn't think to question it, though. He was distracted by some fat, juicy strawberries. “Shit… How much is this?” 

“Strawberries are two bits, five bits for three.” 

Money was tight, but Lorne didn't know the last time he had the opportunity to taste a strawberry. He was stunned to see any in the middle of nowhere like this. He pulled a couple coins from his money pouch and set them on the countertop. The merchant gestured for him to help himself to a strawberry, and Lorne eagerly grabbed the biggest one. He ate it right then and there, savoring every bite until there was nothing left but the leaves. 

“You, uh, you're sure you don't want the five for three deal?” the merchant asked, seeing how eagerly Lorne had devoured the one berry. 

“I'll come find you again after I'm paid,” Lorne replied with a wink. 

“I'll hold you ta that. Name’s Davin, by the way,” he offered a hand for shaking. 

“I’m Lorne,” he grinned slyly and firmly grabbed the other man’s hand, but instead of pulling away, used his grip to lean in a bit closer. “You know, perhaps I could come back tonight and pay you some other way?” 

Davin’s pale skin lit up bright red at the implication, blush spreading to the tips of his ears. He quickly pulled his hand away and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, I, er… I’ve never hired a, um… what do you call yourself…?” 

The bounty hunter laughed at Davin’s reaction. “I’m not a prostitute, if that’s what you mean. I just like to have fun, and honestly, you and I are the two best looking people in this whole waypoint.” 

The farmer hesitated, though Lorne took that as a good sign. Uncertainty wasn’t a flat-out no, but he knew better than to push. He’d give Davin some space before trying again. 

“Tell you what,” the bounty hunter spoke up again before Davin could reply. “Think on it, and when I come back for those strawberries, we’ll see if you’d like to ‘plow my fields’ or not.” 

The farmer couldn’t help but chuckle at that awful pun. “All right. We’ll see.” 

After shooting Davin one last grin, Lorne turned away to get back to his work. He pretended to shop through the market, idly striking up conversation with various merchants and travelling caravans, but it was only more of the same. The bounty hunter didn’t know for sure what this “lizard man’s” enhancements were, exactly, aside from scaly skin and a tail, but he was beginning to suspect the man had other reptilian traits that would easily help him survive this sort of harsh environment. If that were the case, his mark could be absolutely anywhere. 

Just as Lorne was about to give up, treating himself to a drink at the tavern with the last of his credits, he overheard a couple men speaking at a nearby table. They tried to speak vaguely, but an experienced bounty hunter like Lorne was able to figure out that they were planning a major catch very soon, shortly after the market closed. If these men were after his lizard man, Lorne certainly didn’t mean to give up his mark without a fight, especially not after how much trouble he had gone through to find him. 

As the two men made their way out of the bar, Lorne left a few coins for a tip and casually walked outside just in time to see the two men enter a battered-up dune buggy. The vehicle sped off away from the checkpoint, and clouds of dust off in the distance told Lorne that the rest of their gang was already on the way. 

There was no way Lorne could keep up with a dune buggy, at least not on foot. He stepped behind a building, where hopefully no one would see him as he lifted off the ground in a burst of flame. Once he reached a safe height, it was easy to follow the trails of dust to wherever the dune buggies had gone. 

As the bounty hunter moved closer, he finally saw three vehicles stopped on the road, blocking the path of one man pulling a cart. By the bright red color of the target’s hair, Lorne immediately assumed this was the farmer from earlier in the day. As he began to wonder why this gang would attack an ordinary farmer, Lorne suddenly realized why this man looked so familiar. He had seen his face plenty of times on different bounty notices. There was an official notice from the government, but in the underground, larger gangs had offered even more money than the sanctioned bounty - all demanding this man be brought in alive. 

The farmer seemed so mild-mannered at the market, Lorne couldn’t imagine what he could have done to upset not only the government, but multiple gangs. It was curious, but with as many credits as this “Davin” was worth, Lorne didn’t care what he had done. He needed a payday real quick, and this one would last him months. But he had to act quick - the gang already had Davin surrounded and on his knees. 

Without wasting another moment, Lorne focused and ignited one of the dune buggies, causing it to explode. The impact knocked a few gang members off their feet while others closer to Davin yelled at him in confusion, knocking him in the head with the butt of his gun. 

Staying aloft while focusing his abilities elsewhere was proving difficult for the bounty hunter, so he quickly landed nearby. Catching the gang off-guard, they quickly pointed their guns at the intruder, but Lorne easily ignited the gunpowder in the bullets, causing the guns to backfire in his enemies’ hands. They dropped their weapons in shock, and a couple men clasped their hands over open wounds from the misfire. 

With a wild grin on his face, Lorne combusted the remaining two dune buggies before finally speaking up, “And I didn’t even need to lift a finger. Too easy.” 

Davin gazed up at Lorne, gaping in confusion. A trickle of blood dripped down his face from where he was struck, and it seemed a black eye was beginning to form, but thankfully he didn’t seem to have any worse injuries. The gunmen seemed to have either passed out or retreated, but there was, however, one gang member who remained guarding Davin and hardly seemed fazed by Lorne’s abilities. 

The woman seemed perfectly average with short, messy brown hair and a round face. Her build wasn’t particularly large or intimidating, so it seemed odd that her only reaction to the explosions were mild annoyance. 

“You’re not takin’ him anywhere,” she spoke in a gruff tone and gave the back of Davin’s leg a kick, causing him to lose balance and fall forward in the dirt. “We got ‘ere first.” 

“And I’m here now,” Lorne dismissively replied. Seeing that this woman didn’t fully understand the threat, he stirred up a small whirl of flame at the woman’s feet. Most people would startle and jump out of the fire, but surprisingly, this woman stood in place as her leather boots roasted and the hem of her pants burned away. 

She kicked off her ruined shoes, revealing gray, cracked skin that seemed to resemble stone. “I killed one mean sum’bitch for them boots. You’re gonna pay for that.” 

The woman suddenly made a run for Lorne, but before he could even think of a counter move, she suddenly toppled head over heels, face landing in the dirt. It seemed she somehow tripped over an exposed root that Lorne hadn’t noticed before. Despite the tension in the air, Lorne burst out into laughter at the careless, clumsy mishap. 

“Am I supposed to be afraid? Or intimidated? Oh, darling, that is just too--” 

His sentence was interrupted by a feeling like someone had slammed a rock into his jaw. While he was distracted laughing, the woman had quickly recovered and managed to punch Lorne in the face. He quickly recovered his balance, but distressed at the thought that his good looks might suffer, he paused to gingerly tap his cheek. Before he even had a chance to feel relieved at a lack of scarring, the woman slammed her heel to the back of Lorne’s knee. 

As he fell to the ground, the woman loomed over him as if she meant to continue the beatings, but he quickly used his flames to jet himself away from the attack. Expecting to hit something solid, her momentum caused her to fumble and nearly lose balance. Lorne used the opportunity to shoot himself straight for the woman, knocking her into the dirt several feet from the road. 

“You can’t beat me,” she grunted as she grappled to get away. “My skin’s all rock.” 

“Then we’ll just have to see how you manage as a puddle of lava,” Lorne replied, turning his flames up even hotter as he struggled to keep her down. 

The bounty hunter spared a glance over at the road and saw that Davin had not moved. Each posting specifically emphasized to bring this man in alive, and he would hate for any collateral damage during this fight. “Davin! Get back to the waypoint!” 

“But you--!” the farmer began to call out, but was interrupted by Lorne once again. 

“You need to leave! Now!” 

As the flames grew to an intense, nearly white-hot heat, it seemed enough for Davin to feel it all the way from the road. The farmer didn’t argue further and pulled himself to his feet, walking with a slight limp as fast as he could away from the fight. 

The woman tried to use Lorne’s brief distraction to her advantage and knocked into him with a headbutt. He did fall back for a moment, but he was too fast for her to get away. Lorne didn’t even need to be touching her to create fire, but it would require too much concentration to create a heat that intense on an outside source. In a lick of flame, he was back on his target, wrapping his limbs around her in an attempt to restrict her as much as possible. Every inch of her skin was rough and hard as a rock, but he held tightly and turned up the heat until they were both surrounded by a large orb of white-hot fire. 

Just as Lorne began to fear this plan might not work, the woman let out a high-pitched shriek. “I yield! I yield, please! It’s too much!” 

He had never been a cruel or sadistic man, so there was no need for unnecessary torture or murder, so he released the woman and extinguished his fire, but remained on guard, in case this was some sort of ruse. As it turned out, the woman genuinely couldn’t take the heat. She remained prone in the dirt, weak and panting as she caught her breath. 

Lorne pulled himself to his feet and looked around at the area. Any weeds nearby had been completely turned to ash, and there were scorch marks on the ground stretching out a few feet from the battle scene. Thank goodness Davin left. Even if the fire never reached the road, the heat was so intense, the vegetables on the farmer’s abandoned cart had begun to shrivel and wilt. A couple small trails of blood leading away from the scene revealed that any lingering thugs managed to drag themselves away before sustaining any further injuries. 

After all this, Lorne felt out of breath and even a bit sweaty. His connection with fire had always made him more resilient to heat, but that level of physical exertion left him exhausted. 

At least all he had to do now was hope that Davin didn't hide himself too well. For now, he needed the farmer to believe the bounty hunter was on his side, protecting him. 

Just as Lorne was building up the energy to fly back to the waypoint, he noticed a familiar redheaded figure jogging back up the road. With a grin, he stepped forward to meet Davin. 

“Shite… That was really something,” the farmer spoke up with a grin. 

“Your leg,” Lorne noted, “and your head, you shouldn't run.” 

“This isn't much. I'll be fine. But you look a wreck,” Davin offered with a sheepish grin. “My place is just up the road. Follow me.” 

A mirror would have been Lorne's worst enemy at the moment. His lip already felt the size of a golf ball, and his whole body ached from the brawl. He could only imagine how awful and tangled his hair must have been. At least his clothes were still in tact. He had saved up a ridiculous amount of credits to purchase a fireproof outfit. 

“I think I might have ruined your vegetables,” Lorne said as he began to follow the other man. 

Davin replied with a breathy chuckle, “I've got plenty more.” 

With produce that fresh, Lorne expected it would be a major loss for any farmer out in this waste, yet Davin shrugged it off as though it were nothing. Just what kind of farm did this man own out here in the middle of nowhere? 

As the two men finally began to approach the small cottage, all Lorne could see were rows of corn, a small orchard of apples, and a field of other fruits and vegetables that he couldn’t identify from such a distance, but nonetheless didn’t appear particularly remarkable aside from the fact that nothing appeared dead and dry. 

“Looks like you’ve found a lucky plot of soil out here,” Lorne commented, hoping for some sort of explanation. 

“Guess I did,” the farmer simply replied. 

It made sense that Davin might not want to give away his secret and risk his competition using the same methods to grow their produce, but something still felt a little odd to Lorne. 

“By the way, what did one simple farmer do to upset such a nasty crowd like that gang back there?” the bounty hunter pressed as they reached the cabin. 

“Robbing my food and whatever coin I earned at the market today, it seems,” Davin replied and gestured for Lorne to take seat at the small dining table. 

That would have been a fair excuse if this were an isolated incident, but it didn’t explain how much the farmer was worth on the black market. Good produce could be quite profitable, but not so much that it warranted such a high bounty. Of course, Lorne couldn’t press the issue because he still couldn’t give away his true intentions. 

Davin briefly stepped away to retrieve a washcloth and a bowl filled with warm water. He set the bowl on the table and sat in the chair beside his guest, reaching to dab the blood drying at Lorne’s jaw. 

“What are you…” the bounty hunter pulled away, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t have to do that.” 

“You didn’t have ta save my life back there,” the farmer countered. “This is the least I can do.” 

“No, really. I’m fine,” Lorne insisted, posture tense and uneasy. He appreciated the gesture, but allowing himself to be treated for such minor injuries gave the bounty hunter a sense of vulnerability. He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone seeing him as weak. 

“Oh. Okay, if you’re sure,” Davin agreed hesitantly. “If you don’t mind, I could use a little wash-up, myself.” 

He stood up again and took the bowl to what Lorne assumed must be his bathroom. While the other man was out of the room, Lorne had nothing left to do but glance around the room. It was just a run-down little cabin in the middle of nowhere, yet it still seemed a bit nicer than his own run-down studio apartment near the city. This cabin at least seemed cozy. There wasn’t much decoration, but Lorne assumed a farmer had better ways to spend his money than collecting knick-knacks or pictures. Though, he did have a plush-looking couch with a few blankets that didn’t actually seem too faded and worn. 

Davin finally returned, this time with a smaller bowl and a basket of fruit. As he took a seat and set the fruit on the table, Lorne could see the bowl was filled with not just strawberries, but a whole variety of berries. 

“I’d say you’ve more than earned your strawberries,” Davin said. “And here’s some more fruit. I didn’t know what you liked, so just help yourself.” 

One fruit particularly caught Lorne’s eye, since it’s yellow and red coloring reminded him of fire. “Why is this apple colored like that?” 

The farmer grinned, as if to suppress a laugh. “That’s a mango, sunshine.” 

“I’ve never heard of any mango apple.” Before Davin could correct him, Lorne had already taken a bite. Expecting the juicy crunch of an apple, only to be met with a much softer texture, Lorne reflexively spit it out, dribbling orange mango bits onto the table. “What’s wrong with it?!” 

This time, Davin failed to hold back his laughter. “Mango isn’t a type of apple. It’s it’s own fruit. Nothing wrong, that’s just how it’s supposed ta taste.” 

“Well, I don’t care for it,” Lorne huffed, upset with himself for looking foolish. He set the mango aside and turned his attention to the berries. There were a couple other fruits in the bowl that the bounty hunter couldn’t easily recognize, either, so he simply picked out the strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. 

As he munched on his fruit, Lorne considered his next step. He needed to somehow convince Davin to willingly go into the city with him. This wasn’t a normal bounty where he could redeem his earnings with the local authority or arrange transport to whatever gang wanted him. Several people were willing to pay good money for this man, so the bounty hunter thought it best to take Davin into the city and bargain for the best deal. 

Thankfully, the farmer made it easy for Lorne. “You’re leaving this area soon, aren’t you?” 

“I can’t leave this shithole fast enough,” the bounty hunter replied. “I mean, no offense to the locals,” he added as an afterthought, remembering that this waypoint was Davin’s home, after all. 

“Do you think you can take me with you?” Davin asked with an earnest gleam in his eyes. 

“Sure,” Lorne replied, trying not to sound too eager. “It’s probably your safest bet, you know, because of the gang. You don’t want more of them coming back.” 

“Definitely not. I don’t have much money, but I can keep us well fed,” he offered. 

Lorne paused for a moment to wonder how long any of this produce might last on their journey. But it wasn’t as if any payment from Davin really mattered, of course. All that money from his bounty would make this trip well worth the effort. 

The decision was simple, so Lorne reached out to seal the deal with a firm handshake. “You’re safe with me. I promise.”


End file.
